BEYOND THE BASICS

Traditionally, Fair Isle knitting was defined as knitting with many colors, but never using more than two in any one row. Most patterns were made up of small motifs that repeated across the piece. Knitters today use myriad colors in their Fair Isle patterns, and the term now refers to any color knitting where color changes are frequent, requiring the uarns to be carried across the wrong side of the work.

stranding: one-handed

1. On the knit side, drop the working yarn. Bring the new color (now the working yarn) over the top of the dropped yarn and work to the next color change.

2. Drop the working yarn. Bring the new color under the dropped yarn and work to the next color change. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

1. On the purl side, drop the working yarn. Bring the new color (now the working yarn) over the top of the dropped yarn and work to the next color change.

2. Drop the working yarn. Bring the new color under the dropped yarn and work to the next color change. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

stranding: two-handed

1. On the knit side, hold the working yarn in your right hand and the non-working yarn in your left hand. Bring the working yarn over the top of the yarn in your left hand and knit with the right hand to the next color change.

2. The yarn in your right hand is now the non-working yarn; the yarn in your left hand is the working yarn. Bring the working yarn under the non-working yarn and knit with the left hand to the next color change. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

1. On the purl side, hold the working yarn in your right hand and the non-working yarn in your left hand. Bring the working yarn over the top of the yarn in your left hand and purl with the right hand to the next color change.

2. The yarn in your right hand is now the non-working yarn; the yarn in your left hand is the working yarn. Bring the working yarn under the non-working yarn and purl with the left hand to the next color change. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

weaving

1. Hold the working yarn in your right hand and the yarn to be woven in your left. To weave the yarn above a knit stitch, bring it over the right needle. Knit the stitch with the working yarn, bringing it under the woven yarn.

2. The woven yarn will go under the next knit stitch. With the working yarn, knit the stitch, bringing the yarn over the woven yarn. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to the next color change.

1. To weave the yarn above a purl stitch, bring it over the right needle. Purl the stitch with the working yarn, bringing it under the woven yarn.

2. To weave the yarn below a purl stitch, purl the stitch with the working yarn, bringing it over the woven yarn. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to the next color change.

twisting

On the knit side, twist the working yarn and the carried yarn around each other once. Then continue knitting with the same color as before.

On the purl side, twist the yarns around each other as shown, then continue purling with the same color as before.